The occurrence of taste-and-odor problems that are caused by algal metabolites in water supplies has been well documented. Several commonly occurring odor-producing algae were selected and cultured for this research. Initial studies involved the algal cells and cell-free media from cultures grown under fairly optimal conditions. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and flavor profile analyses (FPA) were performed to identify the organic compounds produced by the algae and their respective odors. Three of the algal cultures underwent additional studies that investigated the effects of selected changes in culture conditions on both population growth and compound production. Experimental variables included nitrogen concentration (ammonium, nitrate, and nitrite), phosphorus concentration, light intensity, and temperature. Parametric and nonparametric analyses were performed to identify the environmental factors that had a significant effect on algal production, accumulation, and release of taste-and-odor compounds. The organic compounds were extracted from both the algal cells and the cell-free media. Continuous liquid-liquid extraction and Kuderna-Danish concentration (CLLE-KD) was an effective and reliable method for the isolation and concentration of a broad range of organic compounds. The plot of flavor profile analysis (FPA) results obtained for odor standards adhered to the Weber-Fechner Law (W-F) over the range of concentrations evaluated. The odor intensities of algal cultures were generally lower than the odor intensities predicted from the W-F plot of the compound standards. Masking of the odor associated with one compound by the odor associated with another was observed. Odors produced by young algal cultures (e.g., low population densities) were detected in FPA samples at compound concentrations below the limits of detection by GC-MS. Anabaena laxa retained most of the geosmin it produced within the algal cells. Phormidium sp. produced more 2-methylisoborneol (MIB) than geosmin, and the alga retained only a relatively small amount of either compound within the cells. Synura petersenii produced more 2t,4c,7c-decatrienal than 2t,6c-nonadienal, and large fractions of the concentrations produced were retained within the algal cells. Various combinations of nutrient reduction, early algal-bloom within-reservoir treatment, and removal of algal cells prior to oxidation were suggested as likely methods by which odor problems may be reduced. / Ph. D.

Potato (Solanum tuberosum) is a crucial global food crop, yet its production is threatened by fungal pathogens such as Pythium ultimum and Colletotrichum coccodes, which cause significant yield losses and impact tuber quality. In this study, we investigated the antifungal properties of various Streptomyces and Bacillus isolates against these pathogens. The Streptomyces isolates, known for their prolific secondary metabolite production, were selected for their varying efficacy against these fungi. Despite the anticipated potential, Streptomyces isolates exhibited limited antifungal activity against Pythium ultimum and only moderate activity against Colletotrichum coccodes. In contrast, Bacillus isolates, particularly B1, demonstrated strong inhibition of C. coccodes, although this activity diminished after the removal of the live bacteria and after fractionation. The study has several potential factors influencing these outcomes, including the degradation of bioactive compounds during the fermentation, concentration, storage, and fractionation processes. The 10-day fermentation period was chosen based on the typical peak of secondary metabolite production in Streptomyces; however, the transition from solid to liquid media may have affected metabolite stability. Furthermore, the study suggests that repeated subculturing over six years may have led to genetic drift or loss of metabolite production in Streptomyces isolates. Additionally, the presence of Bacillus contaminants in an old DMSO stock added complexity to the results, particularly in early bioassay replicates. This study highlights the challenges of maintaining bioactive compound efficacy through various stages of microbial processing and suggests that alternative extraction and fractionation methods, as well as a focus on preserving synergistic compound interactions, may enhance the development of effective biocontrol agents for agricultural use.

<p> Over the last two decades, mycoflorostic studies undertaken in Guyanese forests have uncovered hundreds of new fungal species and genera. One of the recovered fungal families was the Xylariaceae, although most were not identified to species. Members of this family play ecological roles as decomposers, endophytes, and pathogens of vascular plants and grass species.  In addition, this group is increasingly recognized as a significant source of novel metabolic products with potential for applications in medicine, agriculture, and industrial biofuel. Given its  potential, we took a more targeted approach to the documentation of this group. Our sampling  efforts drawing on more than two decades of field collections yielded ca. 90 species in 12 genera, including a putative pathogen, Xylaria karyophthora of the seeds of Chlorocardium spp (Greenheart). Despite the significance of Greenheart to the Guyanese economy, little is known  about the biology and ecology of this fungus. Due to the lack of available resources to study this  fungus, our objectives were two-fold: first, to sequence and annotate the genome of X.  karyophthora to provide a resource for genome-centric explorations, and to use this genome to  infer the biology and ecology of this fungus. We focused on identifying and characterizing  secretomes, viz. carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) and secondary metabolites  biosynthetic gene clusters (SMBGCs) to infer the nutritional strategy of this fungus. Our results  suggest that X. karyophthora has the capacity to act as both an endophyte and a pathogen. To  make further inferences about the population, we used SSR markers to elucidate the genetic  diversity and population structure of X. karyophthora. X. karyophthora populations have high  genetic diversity, potentially exploiting both outcrossing and inbreeding reproductive strategies, and demonstrate a pattern consistent with human-mediated spread. This work will contribute  information on new species and records of Xylariaceous fungi and their allies from Guyana with  particular emphasis on unraveling the epidemiology, genetic diversity, and population structure  of X. karyophthora </p>

1 Abstract: Secondary metabolism of Gram-positive soil bacteria from the genus Streptomyces is a inestimable source of natural products including manumycins, which belong to a polyketide group. These products possess weak antimicrobial, but important antiinflammatory, and antitumor activities. Streptomyces sp. offers broad amounts of yet undiscovered antibiotics, potentially utilizable in clinical medicine. This fact makes out of these organisms a promising solution to our present problem with rising antibiotic resistance among microorganisms. Two main ways are applied in this research: There are efforts of prepairing new derivates based on known products and creating various modifications in their structure. Next, new producers are discovered by "genome mining" methods, activation of silent gene clusters, followed by improvements of antibiotic production. One of those silent clusters was found in the Saccharothrix espanaensis DSM44229 strain. The genetic information has been transferred to a heterologous host in order to characterize its product. Cluster activation and production of novel manumycin-type metabolites occurred in the host after the transfer.

Ce travail vise à comprendre les mécanismes dinduction du développement chez les Streptomyces. Chez ce genre bactérien, le facteur de transcription DasR a été identifié comme le premier régulateur global à la charnière entre le métabolisme primaire et le métabolisme secondaire, capable de percevoir l'état nutritionnel de l'environnement et d'adapter en conséquence la réponse des différents processus associés au développement (Rigali et al., 2006 et Rigali et al., 2008). La première ambition de cette thèse de doctorat a été d'évaluer l'ampleur du régulon DasR chez S. coelicolor afin d'obtenir une liste - exhaustive et appuyée par des critère de fiabilité - des gènes ciblés par ce régulateur global. L'hypothèse à la base de ce travail de prédiction était qu'au sein du régulon DasR se trouvaient peut-être des gènes de fonction encore inconnue mais essentiels au développement. Comprendre le rôle de ces protéines pouvait déboucher sur l'élucidation de nouvelles voies d'induction du développement et donc peut-être de nouvelles voies à exploiter pour induire le réveil des gènes cryptiques. La première démarche visant à répondre à ce premier objectif nous a amené à constater les lacunes des programmes web de prédiction des régulons existant, notamment le manque de flexibilité au niveau des critères de recherche et au niveau de l'exploitation des résultats obtenus, ainsi que l'absence de moyen permettant d'estimer la fiabilité de la prédiction. C'est pourquoi, dans un premier temps, nous nous sommes lancés le défi de créer un nouvel outil de prédiction des régulons procaryotiques qui répondrait davantage aux attentes des biologistes. Ce programme, nommé PREDetector (Prokaryotic Regulatory Elements Detector), a été réalisé en collaboration avec le Professeur Louis Wehenkel (Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Université de Liège) (Hiard et al., 2007). Les caractéristiques et les possibilités offertes par PREDetector sont expliquées et illustrées dans le premier chapitre des résultats. Le second chapitre des résultats - ainsi que l'annexe de cette thèse - sont quant à eux dédiés à l'exploitation de ce programme et la caractérisation de l'ensemble des cibles de DasR prédites chez S. coelicolor. Ensuite, et toujours motivé par un souci de présenter un travail fiable pour d'ultérieures investigations, une comparaison des régulons DasR prédits chez différents streptomycètes et autres actinomycètes (prédictions et démarches détaillées dans l'annexe de thèse), vient appuyer notre définition du noyau dur du régulon DasR - conservon DasR - déduit pour l'organisme modèle S. coelicolor. Enfin, nous passons à l'étape d'utilisation de ces données bioinformatiques avec l'étude de gènes/protéines dont l'expression est dépendante de DasR dans le but de peut-être établir de nouvelles connexions entre le métabolisme primaire et le développement chez la souche modèle S. coelicolor. De manière intéressante, le régulon DasR de S. coelicolor comprend plusieurs gènes codant pour des systèmes de transport ABC de sucre. A l'instar du PTSGlcNAc, ces transporteurs situés à l'interface cellule/environnement peuvent aussi être les senseurs de molécules cruciales pour l'induction du développement. Après le PTSGlcNAc, nous nous sommes donc concentrés sur l'étude du premier transporteur ABC de sucre régulé par DasR - en termes de fiabilité des prédictions et de conservation inter-espèces/-genres -, c'est-à-dire, le système DasABC. Dans le troisième chapitre des résultats nous démontrerons ainsi que DasA est une protéine impliquée dans le processus de différenciation morphologique de S. coelicolor (Colson et al., 2008).

This thesis describes the in vitro production of drug metabolites using fungi of the Cunninghamella species. The metabolites were characterized with mainly liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry using ion-trap and quadrupole-time-of-flight instruments. A fungal in vitro model has several advantages e.g., it is easily up-scaled and ethical problems associated with animal-based models are avoided. The metabolism of bupivacaine and the selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs) S1, S4 and S24 by the fungi Cunninghamella elegans and Cunninghamella blakesleeana was investigated. The detected metabolites were compared with those formed in vitro and in vivo by human and horse and most phase I metabolites formed by mammals were also formed by the fungi. The higher levels of bupivacaine metabolites in the fungal samples allowed an extensive mass spectrometric structural characterization which shows that the fungi are relevant metabolic models. Glucuronides are important drug metabolites but they are difficult to synthesize. The discovery that the fungus Cunninghamella elegans formed large amounts of glucosides led to the idea that they could be used to form glucuronides. A new concept was developed where a fungal incubate containing a SARM S1 glucoside was mixed with the free radical tetramethylpiperidinyl-1-oxy (TEMPO), sodium bromide and sodium hypochlorite which produced a glucuronide. Isolation and characterization by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy proved that the new method could produce glucuronides for use as reference material. An investigation of reactive metabolite formation of the drugs paracetamol, mefenamic acid and diclofenac by the fungus Cunninghamella elegans was performed. It was demonstrated for the first time that the fungus could produce glutathione, glutathione ethyl-ester, cysteine and N-acetylcysteine conjugates that are indicative of a preceding formation of reactive intermediates. A comparison with conjugates formed by human liver microsomes showed that both models formed identical metabolites. The presented investigations prove that Cunninghamella fungi are relevant drug metabolism models. They show that the fungi to a large extent forms the same metabolites as mammals and that they can produce metabolites for use as reference material in, e.g. doping control. It was also demonstrated that the fungal model can be used in the important assessment of drug toxicity.

No description available.

No description available.

Algoa Bay Latrunculid sponges are well known for their production of cytotoxic pyrroloiminoquinones with speculation that these secondary metabolites may have a microbial origin. This study describes a thorough investigation into the bacterial community associated with Tsitsikamma favus, Tsitsikamma scurra a newly described Latrunculia sp. and a yellow encrusting sponge associated with T. scurra. Molecular and chemical characterisation were used in conjunction with traditional taxonomy in identification of the sponge specimens. The 28S rRNA and COX1 analysis confirmed the traditional taxonomy with T. favus and T. scurra being very closely related. Chemical analysis revealed that T. favus and T. scurra shared the discorhabdins 2,4-debromo-3-dihydrodiscorhabdin C, 7,8-dehydro-3-dihydrodiscorhabdin C and 14-bromo-1-hydroxy-discorhabdin V in common with each other and Tsitsikamma pedunculata indicating that these pyrroloiminoquinones are common to Tsitsikamma sponges in general. The bacterial community associated with T. favus was explored using 16S rRNA molecular techniques including DGGE, clonal libraries of full length 16S rRNA genes, as well as 454 pyrosequencing. DGGE analysis revealed that the bacterial community associated with T. favus appeared to be highly conserved, which was confirmed by both the clone library and 454 pyrosequencing, with the Betaproteobacteria as the most dominant class. Further exploration into T. favus, as well as T. scurra, Latrunculia sp. and the yellow encrusting sponge indicated that the bacterial populations associated with each of these sponge species were conserved and species specific. OTU analysis to the species level revealed that T. favus and T. scurra shared an abundant Spirochaete species in common while the most abundant species in the Latrunculia sp. and the yellow encrusting sponge belonged to the class Betaproteobacteria. The exclusivity of the tsitsikammamines to T. favus precipitated attempts to culture the T. favus associated bacteria, with a focus on the dominant betaproteobacterium as indicated by the 16S rRNA clone library. Actinobacteria associated with the Algoa Bay sponge specimens were also cultured and the actinobacterial isolates were sent for screening against Mycobacterium aurum with two Kocuria kristinae isolates and a Streptomyces albdioflavus isolate showing good antimycobacterial activity.

Submitted in fulfillment for the Degree of Doctor of Technology: Biotechnology, Durban University of Technology, 2010. / Ceratatheca triloba (Bernh.) E. Mey. Ex Hook. f. is one of four species that is common to the summer rainfall areas in South Africa, especially the grasslands. It is used in traditional medicine to treat stomach cramps, nausea, fever and diarrhea. Like many other plants used in the traditional medicine system, these uses are not justified through scientific investigations. This study was undertaken to characterize the functionality of the main bioactive compounds from Ceratatheca triloba. This was achieved by isolating and identifying predominant chemicals from the non polar extracts using conventional chromatography techniques. Once identified the crude extracts and identified compounds were tested for their antimicrobial, anti-oxidant activity, anti-inflammatory activity and anticancer activity. This was followed by investigating the safety of the crude extracts and the purified compounds by the Brine shrimp lethality assay, and its toxicity to HepG2 cells and the Salmonella mutagenecity test. For large scale production, we set up a protocol to produce 9, 10 anthracenedione in a cell suspension culture system. Following the complete chemical profile of the roots, stems, flowers and leaves the predominant compounds were isolated, characterized and identified by UV-Vis, IR, EI-LCMS and NMR (COSY, HMQC, HMBC and DEPT). Three anthraquinone derivatives and one steroid, 9, 10 anthracenedione, 1-hydroxy-4-methylanthraquinone, 5, 8-dimethoxy-2, 3, 10, 10a-tetrahydro-1H-phenanthrene-4, 9-dione and androst-5-ene-3, 17, 19-triol were determine by analysis of spectral data (UV, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and EI-LC-MS) 9, 10 anthracenedione and 1 hydroxy-4-methylanthraquinone showed antibacterial activity against S.aureus, M. luteus, B cureus and E. coli. Due to the synergistic effect of the individual compounds, the crude extract exhibited good potency (>500) against S.aureus and M. luteus, medium potency against E. coli. and S. typhimurium (<100) and very low potency against B cureus (<10). Although a similar trend was observed for 9, 10 anthracenedione and 1 hydroxy-4-methylanthraquinone unlike the crude extract. A very low potency against S.aureus for 9, 10 anthracenedione and a high potency for 1 hydroxy-4-methylanthraquinone. Thus 9, 10 anthracenedione is an effective drug against E. coli and S. typhimurium and 1 hydroxy-4-methylanthraquinone is effective against S.aureus and M. luteus. The crude root extracts and 9, 10 anthracenedione, 1 hydroxy-4-methylanthraquinone, 8-dimethoxy-2, 3, 10, 10a-tetrahydro-1H-phenanthrene-4 showed a ± 50% reduction of the free radicals. No anti-inflammatory activity was observed. The purified extracts showed moderate toxicity against HepG2 cells at high concentrations and no toxicity was observed against brine shimp larvae. No mutagenecity was observed with the crude extracts using the Ames test. All purified and crude extracts showed potent inhibition of the human topoisomerase II enzyme. In conclusion, although this study does not indicate any relationship to its traditional usage it provides valuable information that paves a way for commercial exploitation of C. triloba. 9, 10 anthracenedione and 1 hydroxy-4-methylanthraquinone can be used as antibacterial agents. Their antioxidative potential can be exploited for anti-cancer as in many cancers reactive oxygen species are implicated in the aetiology of these cancers. Furthermore, in this study 9, 10 anthracenedione was produced from both callus cultures and cell suspension cultures. This compound demonstrates potent anti-topoisomerase II activity which is vital to cancer treatment. Thus, the synergistic effect of 9, 10 anthracenedione and 1 hydroxy-4-methylanthraquinone as antibacterial, anti-oxidative and anti-cancer compounds demonstrate the importance of C. triloba. / Centre for Research Capacity Development ; National Research Foundation